-The Telegraph Food inflation, which accounts for nearly half the CPI basket, soared 8.60% in September 2022 as against 7.62% in August Driven by rising food prices, India's retail inflation accelerated to 7.41% in September, the fastest pace in five months, data released by the National Statistical Office (NSO) showed on Wednesday. The number stayed well above the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) upper tolerance band for the ninth straight month. This...

-The Hindu Since NFHS-1, Madhya Pradesh has been struggling to tackle the problem Ever since a confidential report by the Madhya Pradesh Accountant-General came to light, about “large scale fraud/misappropriation etc. in the identification of beneficiaries, production, transportation, distribution and quality control of THR [Take Home Ration]”, the government has been facing severe criticism from the Opposition and activists. Last month, ahead of the translocation of eight cheetahs from Namibia to Kuno National...

-The Hindu Vacant posts, inadequate members take a toll on the transparency regime A good 17 years after India got the Right to Information (RTI) Act, the transparency regime in the country remains a mirage with nearly 3.15 lakh complaints or appeals pending with 26 information commissions across India. According to a report by the Satark Nagrik Sangathan, the backlog of appeals or complaints is steadily increasing in commissions every year. The number of...

-Press release by Satark Nagrik Sangathan dated October 11, 2022 Tomorrow (October 12, 2022) marks 17 years of implementation of the RTI Act in India. The law has empowered millions of people to seek information and hold the government accountable. Under the RTI law, information commissions are the final appellate authority and are mandated to safeguard and facilitate people’s fundamental right to information. Information commissions (ICs) have been set up at...

-Down to Earth The Coca-Cola plant that caused over-exploitation of groundwater, toxic contamination of soil, groundwater, loss of agriculture and health in Plachimada shut down 18 years ago Coca-Cola Co, the multi-American beverages giant with presence across the globe, has been in news for its sponsorship of the upcoming 27th Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Even as it draws flak for littering the world with...